Amid an increase in suicidal behavior among teen girls, new research links this phenomenon to the significant increase in the number of female students identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ).
“This finding suggests that the overall increase in female suicidality is not due to all female students becoming more suicidal, but rather to a larger proportion of students being part of a group that has historically experienced higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors due to social and structural pressures,” says lead author Joseph Cimpian, professor of economics and education policy at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
Using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, researchers analyzed trends in years 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021 to examine how LGBQ identification and suicidality has changed among males and females (the binary categories used in the survey). From the sample of more than 44,000 students, they found that the percentage of high school females identifying as LGBQ more than doubled, rising from 15% in 2015 to 34% in 2021. During this same period, suicidal ideation among all female students increased from 23% to 29%, and suicide planning increased from 19% to 23%. Between 2017 and 2021, suicide attempts among female students increased from 10% to 13%.
The findings, published in Educational Researcher, revealed that LGBQ females consistently reported much higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors—for example, in 2021, about 48% of LGBQ females considered suicide compared to roughly 20% of heterosexual females. The researchers used statistical methods that isolated identifying as LGBQ as a factor and found that it was directly correlated to the rise in overall suicidality among females.
In contrast, teenage boys showed different patterns. The percentage of males identifying as LGBQ increased only slightly, from 6% in 2015, to 9% in 2021, with correspondingly smaller changes in suicide-related outcomes.
The trends for females and males were consistent across both White and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) students.
“These findings highlight the critical need to address the structural and social pressures that LGBQ youth face, including in our schools,” says Cimpian. “LGBQ females across all racial and ethnic groups need educational supports to offset the risk of suicidality. Rather than reducing resources for LGBQ youth, as many recent state bills propose, policymakers and practitioners interested in decreasing suicidality among females should target additional educational and mental health resources to support LGBQ students.”
This research was coauthored by Mollie McQuillan, assistant professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
